Dana White's Tuesday Night Contenders Series isn't just proving to
be a stepping stone into the Ultimate Fighting Championship
rankings, it's a legitimate springboard.

Recent DWTNCS standout Mike
Santiago will make his official UFC debut at
UFC Fight Night 115 on Sept. 2 in Rotterdam, Netherlands,
taking on once-beaten Russian Zabit
Magomedsharipov in a featherweight contest. Magomedsharipov was
scheduled to take on Germany's Nick Hein, who
withdrew last week due to an undisclosed training injury.

Intriguingly, Santiago was not one of the two fighters granted a
UFC contract at DWTNCS 7 on Aug. 22; despite a beautiful knockout
of Mark
Cherico in less than three minutes, the offers went to UFC
veteran Joby
Sanchez and undefeated Benito
Lopez instead. Nonetheless, the 28-year-old Illinois native has
now 11 consecutive bouts, his last loss coming to UFC veteran
Frankie
Perez at Ring of Combat 47 in January 2014.

Magomedsharipov, 26, has won eight bouts in a row, with seven
coming by way of stoppage. The Dagfighter team representative won
his way through Absolute Championship Berkut's featherweight
championship tournament defeating Sheikh-Magomed
Arapkhanov in the finals in March 2016 before making a
successful title defense against Brazil's Valdines
Silva last September. Magomedsharipov won via knockout in just
1:53 of the first round.